5 Movies We’re Looking Forward To: November 2013

5 Movies We're Looking Forward To: November 2013

Much like May ushers in the start of the summer movie season, November signals the return of the blockbuster in preparation for the holidays. This month packs quite the line-up of films, many of them among the most anticipated of the year. Admittedly, the month as a whole is rather light, but that's typically by design, as most smaller releases will get crushed under the weight of the high-profile films.
This month also features the first fall release for Marvel Studios, and the second test of the brand's box office power post-Avengers. While Thor 2's box office performance won't determine the studio's trajectory in Phase Two, it will tell us how public perception of these solo films has changed now that the team has assembled once before.
Here are the 5 Movies We're Looking Forward To in November 2013.

November 1st: Ender's Game

Say what you will about author Orson Scott Card's political views, the novel Ender's Game is one of the seminal works of young adult science fiction. The story, about a boy so skilled in the "art of war" that he becomes a fleet commander, was ahead of its time in the '80s but is all the more poignant today, and it's the fact that the story centers around kids that makes it stand out from a lot of the sci-fi films out there. Needless to say, fans of the book have been waiting for a big screen adaptation for quite some time, and it's finally here.
However, with a relatively young cast, Ender's Game is betting big on the presence of seasoned veterans like Harrison Ford and Ben Kingsley to draw in the adult crowds. Even if Ford and Kingsley can't get the job done, the film also looks to feature some pretty impressive visuals.
Check out the trailer for Ender's Game.

November 8th: Thor: The Dark World

With Iron Man 3 cementing its place as the highest grossing movie of 2013 (thus far), it's now up to Thor: The Dark World to continue Marvel's dominance in Phase Two.
Now under the direction of Alan Taylor (Game of Thrones), Thor: The Dark World finds the god of thunder at the mercy of Malekith (Christopher Eccleston), who wants nothing more than to plunge the Nine Realms into darkness. To help put a stop to Malekith's plan, Thor will enlist the help of Jane Foster and a reluctant Loki, jumpstarting that complicated relationship once again.
Several early reviews for Thor 2 have praised the film's scope and sense of humor, calling it a vast improvement over the first film. Whether or not it will be able to match or exceed its predecessor's $65 million opening, however, will say a lot about the strength of Marvel's non-Iron Man franchises in a post-Avengers world.
Check out the trailer for Thor: The Dark World.

November 22nd: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

The first Hunger Games film was a massive box office success, breaking several records and further proving the viability of YA fiction. Its follow-up, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, is now going for the jugular – with a highly coveted November release date and even more A-list talent to bolster the cast.
Whereas the first Hunger Games feature a lot of world-building and character introductions, Catching Fire will hit the ground running, thrusting audiences even further into a universe rich with political intrigue, all leading up to the announcement of the Quarter Quell. Since The Hunger Games, a lot has changed for the franchise and its cast – most notably Jennifer Lawrence's Oscar win – so there's no reason to think this sequel won't be huge. The only question is how huge.
Check out the trailer for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

November 22nd: Delivery Man

After a string of duds, Vince Vaughn is in desperate need of a break. He's tried reuniting with old friends, he's tried Oscar-winning directors, and now he's trying for a comedy with a little extra heart. Delivery Man's premise, about a man who discovers he fathered hundreds of kids as a sperm donor in his 20s, sounds a little silly, but the film's marketing thus far doesn't sell it as such. In fact, the film appears to be a unique look at the nature of parenthood.
We don't expect the film will find too much success at the box office, presumably because most moviegoers will write the film off as another failed Vince Vaughn comedy, but this might be one of the month's surprises. However, if Delivery Man is a dud that could spell bad news for the actor.
Check out the trailer for Delivery Man.

November 27th: Oldboy

When it was first announced that a remake of Oldboy was in the works, many fans scoffed at the idea. It's only been 10 years since that Korean film – about a man who seeks vengeance after being held prisoner for 15 years – was released, and by all the accounts the film still holds up.
Yet, it's hard not to be curious about this remake of Oldboy, if for no other reason than the talent involved. With Spike Lee behind the camera and Josh Brolin in front, Oldboy has a lot of potential. At the same time, trailers for the movie suggest it isn't doing much to change Chan-wook Park's original. Instead, it appears the film is more of a faithful English-language adaptation than anything else. Park's film is a stellar piece of twisted cinema so we don't blame Spike Lee for sticking to the base formula, but we hope the film can justify its existence.
Check out the trailer for Oldboy.

5 Movies We're Looking Forward To: November 2013

It appears that as the summer movie season continues to grow and as a result becomes more and more oversaturated, some big releases are making the journey to the fall in the hopes of capturing the holiday crowd. Whereas past Novembers have featured one, maybe two big releases, there's now a month-long parade of blockbusters.
As far as the box office is concerned, any month that features a highly anticipated YA release and a Marvel movie is sure to be huge, which puts a lot of pressure on the other November releases to pull their share of the pie. Additionally, there are several November releases, like Last Vegas and the animated film Free Birds, that could surprise us, even if they don't look terribly compelling. But really, it comes down to Thor and Hunger Games.
Which films are you looking forward to this month? Do you think Catching Fire or Thor 2 will win the November box office battle?
Once again, here are the 5 movies we're looking forward to this month:

Best film of 2013, thats high praise that no superhero film has reached for me and i doubt it will. With films like twelve yeats a slave, gravity, mud and the tons of other oscar conteders thor cant complete. Glad you enjoyed it tho.

you just mentioned a big pile of crap. How many times do we have to see the same movies over and over. gravity was a giant piece of crap that I hope never to waist my time with. I know ten ppl that saw it and every one who saw that said it was god awful. Oscar contenders don’t = a good movie. If so the man of steel would win over all the so called Oscar contenders

gravity was horrid although george clooney was great, gravity should have been a disaster astronaught love story with both of them saving eachother.
thor 2 was terrific, 100 times better than thor 1, audiences clapped at the end, much better than its rottentomatoes scores and comments.

everyone I knew that saw gravity said it was crappy . I hope you like it bro. Its crazy how you can see thor 2 and I have to wait till nov 7th but gravity has been out here for a while and your just getting it. Its funny how Hollywood does this then wonders why ppl bootleg their movies

thor 2 looks beastie. I don’t know about most of the other movies. EG looks good but I don’t know If I want to spend my money on it. I can always go up to my dc fan boy buddies work and see that movie for free. Hollywood needs to step their game up

Nice list guys. I’m still bummed we haven’t gotten 12 Years a Slave in the El Paso area My picks for November are:

1. Hunger Games: Catching Fire

2. Thor: The Dark World- so far rottentomatoes has it at 80%, hope it doesn’t drop.

3. Dallas Buyers Club- If we even get that either. It’s at 91% rottentomatoes thus far. It’s still early but it’s predicted to get my boy Matthew McConaughey and Jared Letto their first Oscar nominations. Letto is looking to be a strong contender for the win.

Yeah, it was funny to read that “the film appears to be a unique look at the nature of parenthood”, when it’s actually a remake of French-Canadian film Starbuck. I guess it’s unique among English language films in that way.

I just hope that Thor Dark World becomes as big as possible. It’s success may not indicate Phase 2′s trajectory, but it will determine – even more than IM3 – the lasting longevity of success. After all if Thor 2 cannot be a hit then it does not bode well for Guardians and Captain America next year.

Still with the good reviews and far less criticism than IM3 received – signs are very good. Forecasts are predicting an $80 – $90 opening weekend in the US and hopefully it does just that.

Saw Thor The Dark World today, good movie, plenty of humor (verging on too much humor), great character development (Thor, Odin, Loki, Jane, Frigga, Heimdall all felt much more fleshed out), plenty of ‘real’ moments mixed nicely with fantasy. The humor was light hearted, not forced, but played down the drama of a few situations a bit much, but still very enjoyable (WAY more than IM3).